Several different methods have been proposed for tracking user habits of viewing audio/video programs. Some of these methods involve the installation of a separate communication device directly connected with a viewer's television set in the viewer's home to collect such information and to transfer that information periodically to a collection site. One example of such a system is the audience measurement system developed by Nielsen Media Research, in which a “Set Meter” and/or “People Meter” is attached to each television in a selected household. Information regarding the particular channel being watched is forwarded from each meter to a “Home Unit” located in the household, which collects the information and transfers it nightly over a telephone line to Nielsen. Other methods involving collection of data identifying television programs viewed in the home have also been proposed.
As technology for viewing television programming has evolved, previous methods of collecting viewing information have become less effective. For example, video place-shifting devices, including the Slingbox® by Sling Media Inc., allow users to access a video content source, such as a satellite or cable television set-top box, standalone digital video recorder (DVR), or digital video disc (DVD) player, from a remote location. For example, a user on a business trip far from home may use a desktop or laptop computer, cellular phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), or other communication device to communicate by way of the Internet, cellular network, or other communication network with a place-shifting device attached to a television set-top box located in the user's home. Through this communication, the user may control the set-top box to perform a variety of functions, including setting recording timers for an internal DVR, viewing audio/video programming being received live at the set-top box, and viewing programs previously recorded on the set-top box DVR. To view this programming, the set-top box transfers the programming over the same communication network to the communication device, which presents the programming to the user by way of an output display, such as a computer screen. Viewing television programming remotely in such a manner without the use of a home-located television may thus complicate information retrieval regarding a user's viewing habits.